Renegade NCC-63102
by Nightwing1993
Summary: Set prior to and during Star Trek TNG. This story follows the lives of the crew aboard the ill-fated USS Renegade, captained by Tryla Scott, the fastest person in Starfleet history to achieve the rank of captain. From their maiden voyage, right up to Tryla Scott's encounter with Jean Luc Picard and William T. Riker.
1. Test Run

A skeleton crew still occupied the bridge of the USS Renegade. Captain Tryla Scott sat impatiently wrapping her fingers against the arm of her chair. No first officer, no chief engineer and only a quarter of the full crew's complement. Scott almost found it insulting, she'd been the fastest person in the history of Starfleet to achieve the rank of captain, and her reward was half a ship and half a crew.

Of course, she knew the rest of the crew would be joining them at Starbase 14, but they had been making do as they were for over a week, and it had been quite trying. She couldn't help but think there'd have been more emphasis on getting her crew together had it not been for the upcoming maiden voyage of the Enterprise-D, which naturally was the talk of Starfleet.

Scott had never had the pleasure of serving with or even meeting Jean Luc Picard, but she was familiar with his service record on the Stargazer, that alone was proof enough to her that he was the man to take on the Enterprise. Tryla Scott didn't need the flagship; she just wanted a ship with a full crew, which was apparently too much to ask.

Maybe she was just being ungrateful, she thought. After all, not many officers as young as she was were put in charge of a New Orleans class vessel. Well, not any actually, since she was the youngest captain in history. And it was undoubtedly a good ship, even if it was second hand.

Henry Lau had captained the Renegade for just short of two years after its initial commission in 2360. But due to his negligence, the ship was caught up in a nasty ion storm which led to extensive ship-wide damage and over thirty dead crew members. It would have been much worse, were it not for the ship's first officer, Jethro Wallace, relieving Lau of duty and taking command.

Lau was dishonourably discharged from Starfleet, and the USS Renegade was subjected to a full refit. Naturally, everyone, including Scott herself, thought that Wallace would be awarded a promotion and given the Renegade. But, while he did receive a promotion to the big chair, Starfleet thought that Scott was better suited to the Renegade and Wallace was given command of the USS Armstrong instead.

"How long to Starbase 14, Lieutenant?" Tryla asked, directing her question at the young lieutenant in the gold uniform at the helm, who was technically the second highest ranking bridge officer onboard. Her name was Victoria Lake; she was a handsome woman with jet black hair, she'd been personally recommended to Scott by a close friend, which meant the lieutenant had a lot to live up to.

"At current speed, we should be there within the hour, sir," Lake replied.

"Excellent, Lieutenant," The captain nodded.

She wished she could sit out the rest of the trip in her ready room, but with no first officer to cover her, it didn't feel appropriate to leave the bridge until she'd been on duty for at least another hour.

The captain gazed around the bridge, Ensign Carter, a stand-in for the chief of security, stood at the ops station tapping away at his padd. He looked almost as frustrated as she felt.

"Everything alright, Ensign?" She asked.

Carter turned on the spot and flushed a little with embarrassment, "Yes sir," He replied, standing stiff as a board.

"At ease, Ensign, it's alright to be nervous. You're fresh from the academy if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes, Captain."

"What are you struggling with," Tryla asked, gesturing to the padd in Carter's hand.

Carter stepped forward and handed the padd to the captain, "I think the padd might be faulty, I was trying to make a copy of the ship's status report."

Tryla looked over the padd and tapped the screen, Carter was right; it wasn't working, "Yes, it looks as though it might be faulty."

"I'll requisition another one right away, sir," Carter said stiffly.

"No, don't trouble yourself, you can use mine for now and get another when we arrive at the Starbase," Tryla replied, smiling and handing over the padd which had been slotted into her armrest.

"Thank you, Captain," Carter nodded before returning to the ops station.

Ensign Zosa was the other temporary bridge officer; he was a Bolian, and not a very talkative one. He sat at the helm station to Lake's right and hadn't spoken since arriving on the bridge and introducing himself. Tryla has surmised that he considered himself a consummate professional and didn't have time for small talk.

This suited Scott just fine, as their first and only interaction hadn't been a particularly memorable one - if anything, Zosa seemed quite dull.

"Captain," Carter said, "Incoming subspace transmission from Admiral Quinn."

"Thank you, Ensign," Tryla said, standing up and stretching her back, patch it through to my ready room.

"Uhm," Carter said, flushing red again, "How do I..."

Scott rolled her eyes this time and walked over to the ops station, sending the transmission through to the ready room herself. As she strolled into her ready room, she saw a look flash between Lake and Carter that seemed to say 'idiot'.

"Lieutenant Lake, you have the bridge," Said Tryla, before allowing the ready room door to close behind her.

The walls of the ready room were mostly bare, as Tryla had planned to move in a few more home comforts once she'd settled in. All that hung there was a picture of her mother, father and brother and her brother's two children.

Children weren't something that particularly appealed to Tryla; she was more interested in professional pursuits. Of course, she liked her niece and nephew a lot, but ever since taking her first interstellar flight with her father as a child, she knew she wanted to explore the galaxy above all else. Her school friends would laugh as she sat in her classroom, preparing for Starfleet Academy six years before she was even eligible to attend.

But it paid off, she thought, none of those friends were starship captains. They hadn't achieved the things she had, so for her, it was all worth it.

With a somewhat self-congratulatory smile, she took a seat at her desk and pushed the button on her personal computer to accept Admiral Quinn's transmission.

"Admiral Quinn," She said with a curt nod as the rugged silver-haired admiral appeared on the screen.

"Captain Scott, a pleasure as always," Quinn replied, returning a polite nod.

"How can I help you, Admiral?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, I just wanted to check in and see if everything was on schedule. I'm very sorry about the mix up with the crew," Quinn explained.

"No need to apologise, sir," Tryla said, "The crewmen we do have are doing an excellent job."

"How's Lieutenant Lake?" Quinn asked - it had been he who had suggested her for the crew - being an old friend of Lake's father.

"She's settling in nicely, she seems to be a very competent officer," Tryla told him.

"Good, Good, her father will be pleased to hear that," Quinn said. The old man looked down at his feet and took a short pause, before sighing.

Tryla knew precisely what he was going to say.

"There's still time for you to -" Quinn began.

"No," Tryla said, "My decision is final, sir." Quinn was referring to Dexter Remmick, a lieutenant commander with whom she was familiar. Remmick had become something of a protege to Quinn, who had been pushing for Tryla to take Remmick on as her first officer.

"Alright, alright, that's the last time I'll mention it, I promise," Quinn assured her, "Who was it you decided upon again?"

"Her name is Janeway, she was the science officer on the Al-Batani," Tryla explained.

"Ah yes, Owen Paris's ship. He's a good judge of character, I'm sure she'll do a fine job," He said, trying and failing to hide the wounded look on his face.

"Was there anything else, sir?" Asked Scott, trying not to sound impatient.

"No, no I've taken up enough of your time already. Again, I'm sorry about the lack of fanfare - we're making sure to pull out all the stops at Starbase 14. We'll call this little trip a test run; the real maiden voyage is still to come!" He said with a chortle.

"Right you are, sir," Tryla said with a smile, "I'll see you shortly."

"Quinn out," The Admiral said finally, and he disappeared, leaving the screen filled with the United Federation of Planets emblem.

Scott sat back in her chair and sighed with relief. She'd inclined that Quinn would try and push Remmick on her again, but once they'd actually set foot on the ship, she assumed he would have given up. It wasn't that Tryla disliked Remmick, she'd met him on a few occasions, and he seemed perfectly capable. There were quite a few officers who didn't like him, but that had no bearing on her decision either.

Quite frankly, from everything she'd read and everyone she'd spoken to, Janeway was the superior officer, and that was that.

Kathryn Janeway stood sternly at the viewport and stared into the vast abyss before her. There were no planets to be seen, but she knew she was looking in the direction of Styris IV from the information displayed on the panel to her right. She'd hoped to get a look at the USS Renegade as it pulled in to dock.

Catching sight of the third golden pip on her uniform in the reflection of the viewport caused Janeway to swell with pride. She'd enjoyed her tenure as Chief Science Officer on the Al-Batani, but command was always where her heart lay. And now she was a step closer to her own command.

"Do you mind if I join you, Commander?" Came a familiar voice from behind her.

"Of course," She replied with a smile, turning to greet Lieutenant Commander Remmick.

Remmick straightened up his blonde hair in the reflection and adjusted his uniform as he stood to Janeway's left.

"Congratulations on the promotion, Commander," He said.

"Thank you, Mr Remmick," Janeway replied.

"Captain Paris seemed sad to lose you, what made you switch to command?" Asked Remmick.

"It was always the plan, it just seemed like the right time," Janeway explained, "Though I wasn't expecting to find a ship so soon."

A flash of emotion crossed Remmick's face as if he'd just suffered a pang of some kind, but he readjusted his expression almost instantly, "Between you and I, I overheard Admiral Quinn speaking to Starfleet command a few weeks ago, I don't think Captain Paris will be a Captain for much longer."

"Oh?" Janeway replied.

"Indeed, he's up for a promotion. They said he'd turned them down twice before, but they seemed confident he'll accept this time. What do you think?"

"Sounds like him. I couldn't say for sure, but Starfleet would be gaining a wonderful Admiral... And losing a wonderful captain," Janeway said with a chuckle, "What about you anyway, aren't you looking to get yourself on a ship?"

"Well," Remmick said, pausing awkwardly, "I actually applied for the posting on the Renegade."

"I see," Janeway said, trying not to convey emotion one way or another - she didn't want to offend Remmick.

"There will be other ships of course," Remmick said, "Captain Scott has gained an excellent first officer."

Janeway smiled and nodded gratefully, "Have you applied elsewhere?"

Shaking his head, Remmick said, "I think I'm going to stick with the Inspector General's office for the time being."

"Waiting for the right ship. You always were meticulous, Dexter."

"Why do you think I've had so much success in my current posting?" He laughed.

"Not making too many friends from what I hear."

"I investigate other Starfleet officers; it's not a particularly friendly job," Remmick explained.

"I think your methods might be where the issue lies," Janeway said. She'd heard a lot about Remmick's aggressive approach to investigation.

"Haven't you heard of that old earth phrase - good cop, bad cop?" Asked Remmick.

"I'd hardly say that applies; there's no good cop for a start."

"True. But so far my methods have gotten results. The officers I interrogate might see me as harsh, they may even hate me, but my duty is to the truth."

Janeway rolled her eyes, playfully, "Just don't get carried away."

"I'll keep that in mind," Remmick said. Janeway knew full well that he wouldn't, that was just who he was.

The next few minutes passed silently as the two officers gazed off into the distant stars. Then, as if it knew the conversation had reached its natural conclusion, the New-Orleans class frigate burst out of warp.

"NCC-63102, the USS Renegade," Remmick said with a smile, "She's going to be lucky to have you, Kathryn."


	2. Ensigns

The lobby area outside the Officer's Lounge of Starbase 14 was bustling with activity the likes on which it had never seen. Due to its location so close to the Romulan Neutral Zone, the Starbase was rarely host to maiden voyages, which was why today saw an abundance of Starfleet officers stood in rows waiting to be greeted by their new Captain.

A hum of low voices passed between the crew members. Ensign Ben Carter stood in a nervous silence on the third row facing an empty podium, occasionally adjusting his gold uniform, which for some reason had started to feel increasingly uncomfortable. He couldn't help but feel he'd made a fool of himself in front of Captain Scott on the journey to Starbase 14 - First impressions were important, and he'd made a bad one.

Ben suddenly gasped as he felt an elbow jab him lightly in his side. A young human woman with wavey shoulder-length blonde hair and blue-grey eyes stared at him with a concerned smile. The woman was an Ensign like Ben, in the same yellow uniform.

"You alright buddy, you look a little sweaty?" She asked, examining his face with a frown.

"Yeah," Ben gasped, frantically wiping his mildewed face with the back of his hand.

"Nervous, huh?" She said, still smiling.

"A little," Ben replied, trying his best to act cool.

"Well, you look as though you're about to fall over. Y' sure I can't get you something before the Captain gets here?" The Ensign said with a mischievous chuckle.

"Honestly, I'm fine, it's just -"Ben began, but was interrupted as Lieutenant Lake turned around and shushed him. The Captain was about to address them.

Captain Tryla Scott stepped out on to the podium with her new first officer at her side. Unlike Ben, she didn't look nervous in the slightest, she was composed and almost intimidating in her demeanour, but still maintained a modicum of swagger.

"To Captain Tryla Scott," She began, reading from the screen of the podium, "Stardate 40021. You are hereby requested and required to take command of the USS Renegade as of this date. Signed Rear Admiral Gregory Quinn, Starfleet Command."

Applause broke out among the ranks, an enthusiastic Ensign on the back row even whistled. This didn't go unnoticed by Captain Scott, who raised her eyebrow before gesturing for silence with both hands.

"For those of you that were unaware," Captain Scott began, addressing the crowd, "This is my first office Commander Janeway."

Commander Janeway gave a curt nod to the crowd. She had a strong presence, not unlike the Captain's, but something about her smile gave off a feeling warmer than that of Scott's.

"I expect all of you to treat the Commander with the same respect you will show me. Our chief engineer will be running final checks shortly, and we will be departing the Starbase in twelve hours. In the meantime, while unconventional, I have arranged for food and drink to be served in the Officer's lounge. I want my crew to be at least familiar with one another before we disembark," Captain Scott explained. She paused for a moment and looked side to side, "Well? What are you waiting for, head on in."

Row by row the present crew members began to file into the Officer's lounge. Carter followed two crewmen both in yellow uniforms like him.

The Officer's Lounge was draped in Starfleet and Federation banners, an assortment of crewmen from the Starbase were walking around with food and drink on platters. Still feeling horribly nervous, Ben ducked to his right on entering and sat down in one of the booths that ran up the side of the establishment.

The nervous Ensign took some deep breaths and gave his face another wipe, this time with his sleeve.

Nearly fifteen minutes passed as Ben sat and watched the various crew members walking back and forth, chatting, eating and drinking. The only crewman who seemed as static as him was the Bolian Ensign, Zosa, whom Ben had met on the bridge. Zosa stood very still and kept all of his conversations very brief. Perhaps he was nervous too.

"Hey, you calmed down a little?" Said the girl Ben had spoken to at the ceremony, who had peered into the booth where he was sitting.

"I wasn't... Not calm," Ben stammered.

"Sure," She replied, taking a seat across from Ben, "You're Carter, right?"

"That's right, Ben Carter. Where'd you hear that?"

"I was just talking to Lieutenant Lake, since you ditched me," She joked, "I'm Abbie, by the way, Abbie Becker."

"Nice to meet you, Ensign Becker," Said Ben with as much charisma as he could muster, reaching out a hand to shake Abbie's.

Abbie returned the handshake, "Enchante."

Ben squinted a little. Something clicked within him like deja vu when she said that.

"It's French," Abbie explained, looking at him like he was crazy.

"I know, it's just..." Ben said in a daze, "Are you? French, I mean." He knew full well that she wasn't French; it just seemed like an excellent way to move the conversation along.

"No," Abbie said, laughing again, "I was born on Earth, in California. But we moved to Utopia Planitia when I was pretty young."

"Mars? Wow, what was that like?"

"Pretty red," She laughed, "Where are you from?"

"North Carolina, most of my family on my mother's side live on the same street," Ben joked.

"Why'd you sign up for Starfleet?"

"My stepfather was an officer," Ben explained, "I guess I wanted to follow in his footsteps."

"Was an officer?" Abbie asked.

"He went missing three years ago," Said Ben.

Abbie gave a sympathetic smile. Ben allowed it to hang in the air for a moment before changing the subject, "What's your assignment?"

"I'm in engineering. What about you?"

"Trainee tactical officer..."

At this, Abbie snorted and covered her mouth.

"What?" Ben asked, looking offended.

"Nothing, nothing," Said Abbie, trying to suppress laughter, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just, y' know, the nerves, the sweating. What are you gonna be like when you're in a battle situation?"

"I'm not usually like this... Or at least... I didn't think I was. It's just..." Ben stopped once he realised Abbie was no longer listening. She had started to watch some of the officers walking by; she was curling a strand of hair around her finger absent-mindedly.

It took Ben a moment to realise, but she was staring at a specific person in the crowd - A very handsome human man in a gold uniform with flowing black hair. The man was laughing with what appeared to be the ship's chief medical Officer, a Vulcan woman with a typically logical facial expression.

"You see that guy?" Abbie whispered, leaning closer to Ben but not taking her eyes off the man.

"The one you've been gazing at, sure," Ben replied, still wounded from having been ignored.

"I was not gazing. Don't you know who he is?" She asked, still not looking at Ben.

"Not a clue, should I?"

"Lieutenant Commander Narinder Patil, he's the ship's chief engineer, my new boss," Abbie explained.

"Should I know who that is?" Asked Ben.

"Uh, yeah?" Abbie said, turning to Ben and looking at him as if he were an idiot, "He's basically a genius, what he doesn't know about warp technology isn't worth knowing! He graduated the Academy in two years."

"Wow, that is impressive," Said Ben. Having barely scraped through his final year at the Academy, Ben thought that Patil must have been brilliant.

"He requested me personally," Abbie said, puffing out her chest impressively, "Said my graduating thesis was the best he'd read that year."

Ben saw a mischievous smile curl across Patil's face as he looked down at one of the rather attractive ensigns laughed somewhat exaggeratedly at his joke, and wondered if he really had thought much of Abbie's thesis.

"He worked with that Kosinski guy, you know?" Abbie went on as if Ben really wanted to Patil's life story.

"Kosinski?" Ben said, feigning interest. However, he had realised his sour mood had done wonders for his confidence, so that was something.

"Oh you might not have read about it, he's this warp field expert, he's got this nuts theory that he can use our current tech to exceed warp ten and reach the edges of the galaxy in seconds."

"Wow..." Ben said, looking out into the crowd again.

The two sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Abbie cleared her throat to grab Ben's attention. When Ben turned to look at her, she had a softer expression on her face than before, as if she'd realised how rude she'd been.

"Look," She began, "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you."

If anything, the words made Ben feel even worse, like he was tiny, and she was patting him on the top of his head. His anxiety about the whole situation seemed to grab him again.

"I guess," Abbie went on, "It's a little overwhelming for me too, I'm trying to take it all in. Our first starship commission, y' know?"

"Yeah, I know, don't worry about it," Ben said.

"We should stick together though, you and me; we might be the only class of '63ers on board."

"That's true," Ben nodded, smiling at her.

"Shall we go mingle with the rest of them, if you're up to it?" Abbie asked, beaming sweetly back at him.

"I don't know, I..." Ben hesitated.

"Come on," She laughed, reaching out and grabbing his hand, "I'll look after you."

* * *

Narinder Patil left the party early with a smug, self-satisfied look on his face, one that Captain Scott clocked immediately as he stepped through the door. Scott's piercing stare may as well have been a photon torpedo, blasting the smirk from the chief engineer's face.

"Commander," Scott said with a respectful tilt of the head, "If you'd follow me, please."

"Yes sir," Patil replied, his voice much more professional than Scott had expected.

"I'm surprised you didn't come over to pay your respects at the party, Mr Patil," Scott said scathingly as the two began to walk down the empty corridor.

"My apologies, Captain, I didn't think it an appropriate atmosphere, and I was, as you instructed, getting to know the crew," He said with a smile that some might have said were charming, the word that came to Tryla's mind was more nauseating.

"Getting to know the women of the crew," Tryla said, raising an eyebrow. Narinder opened his mouth to speak, but the Captain continued, "I'd like you to, where possible, keep your eyes off the ensigns and your eyes on the engines."

"Yes, Captain," Narinder said defeatedly.

"We've received our first set of orders from Starfleet," Scott explained, "I'm going to need a full systems diagnostic run and completed within six hours."

"Six hours, sir?" He replied, a quiver in his voice.

Scott stopped abruptly, "That's right; you are capable of that aren't you, commander?"

"Of course, of course," Narinder said, a less convincing but equally slimy smile curling in the corner of his mouth.

Gesturing forward, the Captain said with a smile, "Very good; the ship is that way."

Patil nodded and walked the remainder of the corridor by himself. Once the chief engineer was out of sight, Tryla let her smiling facade drop into a scowl.

"Scott to Commander Janeway," The Captain said, tapping her comm badge, "When you're ready, I'd like to see you in my ready room."

* * *

A deep breath was all the preparation Commander Kathryn Janeway needed before stepping from the turbolift and on to the bridge of the USS Renegade. Looking around, she thought that this was likely to be the only time she would see the bridge empty for quite some time. Unlike her previous posting, the bridge of the Renegade had a warmer feel to it.

The tactical station sat directly behind and above the three command chairs and had a somewhat homely wood-finish which Janeway found to be quaint. Directly in front of the command station were the two helm stations where the ship's conn and operations officers would be seated. And in front of them, the enormous panoramic viewscreen which was currently inactive.

Janeway ran her hand along the tactical station and walked the width of the bridge, observing the various other stations behind it as she went. Her previous post, the science terminal, gave her a strangely warm sensation. The slow lap of the bridge met with Janeway's approval, and once satisfied that she'd seen enough, she headed to the Captain's ready room and politely buzzed on the door.

"Enter," Captain Scott's voice said, and the door opened immediately.

"Captain," Janeway nodded, standing before Scott's desk.

With a focused look on her face, the Captain was staring down at her padd and sipping on a hot cup of coffee. She looked up and gestured to the seat in front of Janeway. Scott's eyes travelled back and forth along what must have been the last sentence of whatever she was reading, and she finally looked up from the padd.

"They never get it quite right for my tastes," Scott said, taking another sip of the coffee, "The blend is a little off no matter how hard I try."

"I've never met a coffee I didn't like," Janeway said with a laugh.

Scott laughed too, and put down the cup, "Feel free to help yourself," she said, tilting her head towards the replicator alcove on the wall.

"Oh, thank you," Janeway smiled, getting up and walking to the alcove, "Coffee, black" She commanded.

"You know, Owen Paris and I had a chat the other day, it seems he regrets writing such a glowing recommendation for you. His new science officer hasn't got a patch on you, apparently. Are you that good?"

Janeway didn't speak; she simply smiled and took a satisfied sip of her coffee before sitting back down.

"I'll take that as a yes," Scott replied, looking satisfied, "Did you meet many of the crew at the party?"

"Yes, I met the doctor and most of the bridge crew, I didn't get a chance to speak to the chief engineer, he seemed a little preoccupied," Janeway explained.

"Indeed. I was speaking to him on the way down here; his record is exemplary..."

"But?"

"But, I get the feeling his ego might outweigh his brilliance," Scott continued.

"I can't say I know that much about him, I've only seen his record."

"That's the problem with picking a crew out of files I suppose, I'd rather have conducted face to face interviews, but that's not a luxury I was afforded," Scott said, then remembering who she was talking to she added: "You seem to be precisely what was promised, so far"

Janeway laughed and took another deep sip of coffee, "Do we know anything about our first assignment?"

"We do actually, here," Scott passed over the padd she had been reading.

The summary read: Warp signatures detected, leaving and returning to the atmosphere of planet Turnus II. On the last survey in 2330, it was believed the planet was hundreds if years from achieving warp travel.

"Interesting, we could be looking at a First Contact situation," Janeway said, looking up at the Captain.

"Indeed. I've had the full briefing sent over to you; the Turnu are certainly an interesting culture from what we know. But how they'd possibly go from hunting with bows and arrows to harnessing warp technology is anyone's guess," Scott said.

"At least we'll get the chance to test our chief engineer's warp knowledge," Janeway said with a smirk.


End file.
